What does a typical wedding day look like?

What does a typical wedding day look like for photography and videography with Woodgate Photography??

No two weddings are the same and we love being able to capture so many different happy couples that are able to express their unique personalities through different elements of their day. That being said, this is our style/ approach- how we document weddings tends to flow in the following manner.

Getting ready shots are a lot of fun for us as it is normally a time to get to know the wedding party, which helps a great deal with the formal shots later in the day. For this part of the day we do take a more hands on approach with the detail shots. For example we may move the dresses to a favourable location with great lighting. We usually arrive at the end of hair and makeup being finished to get the final touch ups, then after capturing all the details shots, will document getting dressed and sometimes follow up with some posed shots if time allows. If a second photographer is included in your package they will go to one side of the wedding party while the main photographer goes to the other side.

First Look shots can be a wonderful idea as it allows the emotions to be captured right there together in an intimate way. This can particularly help with couples who are nervous about standing in front of all of their guests and letting their true emotions come out with everyone watching. It is also great photography-wise as your hair and makeup are fresh and the photos are already captured in the event another element of your day was to go over-time. It can be a great idea to do this so that all of the couple and wedding party photographs are done before the ceremony, so that you can enjoy cocktail hour with your guests.

The ceremony is straight documentary, we try to be a fly on the wall and as unobtrusive as possible, while still getting in there to get the important moments.

The family formal shots, are done quickly and easily because we will ask for you ahead of time to provide us with a ‘shot list’ of the family/ chosen family groups you want included. These shots are usually done usually immediately after the ceremony (or receiving line). Although these are captured in a more traditional way than others, we will still attempt to get some great candids throughout.

The wedding party and couple portraits section of the day is where we are really able to have fun and capture a mix of formals and candid shots of you interacting with you wedding party and new husband/wife! We get you posed then make a moment happen by giving you a prompt. If you have certain special requests we recommend picking a couple of ‘must have’ ideas from tiktok/ shots from your pinterest board, but keep in mind that they will be in our style.

The reception is where we go back to my ‘photo ninja’ mode, documenting everything that is going on in the most interesting, creative and unique way possible. We particularly love the speeches where we can capture not only the emotions of person speaking and the bride and groom but also the guests as they are watching.

Romantic sunset shots are included if we can take small break around sunset. We love to be able to pop outside for five minutes to get additional romantic shots of the couple with the gorgeous sunset light.

Formal dance and other wedding formalities. Generally the second photographer will leave after the formal dances and the main photographer will stay, capturing all of the special moments until the last formality of the night (usually garter toss) or until we have a good variety of dancefloor/ candids of socializing.

Once it is dark and you’ve had a chance to have a bit of a dance, we love to be able to run outside with the couple one last time to do a dramatically lit shot.